Paris (AFP)

"It too, it is deconfined!": The square of Notre-Dame reopened Sunday, Pentecost day, more than a year after the cathedral fire, a "symbol" hailed by the government, mayor, diocese of Paris and onlookers.

"It is a very important moment that this reopening of the forecourt which has been awaited for a year", and was delayed "both because of lead pollution and then questions of confinement", greeted the Minister of Culture Franck Riester, who came to mark this "very beautiful symbol".

Beside them the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Michel Aupetit, saw in the opening on the day of Pentecost "an extraordinary sign", "like a liberation".

For the rector of the cathedral Mgr Patrick Chauvet, "the Holy Spirit must have breathed: it has driven everything away, lead and the virus!", He said to the press.

Come to mark this reopening, with General Jean-Louis Georgelin, who chairs the Public Establishment of Notre-Dame, all wore masks against the coronavirus.

After the fire on April 15, 2019, the forecourt and rue du Parvis were immediately closed due to lead pollution, which melted in particular when the spire disappeared.

After a favorable opinion from the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency on Friday, the Paris police prefect authorized the reopening of the two places.

Hidalgo said the floor of the forecourt had been treated with a "transparent and shiny resin" and that cleaning would be done twice a week.

This reopening is a "first step to find Notre-Dame," insisted Mr. Riester, during a brief surprise visit to the forecourt which was slowly starting to fill.

- "A small step" -

The work to secure the burnt Notre-Dame, suspended in mid-March due to coronavirus, is resuming very gradually, always with the aim of reviving the cathedral by 2024, in accordance with the five-year objective set by Emmanuel Macron.

According to General Georgelin, the reopening of the forecourt is "a small step" in view of this deadline. And "nothing will chip away" his confidence in this calendar, despite titanic work.

The dismantling of the scaffolding - 10,000 bent and welded metal tubes - which have already started in their preparatory phase, will enter from June 8 "in the last phase". "The most spectacular," he added to AFP.

Should a chapel be installed on the forecourt before 2024? Mgr Michel Aupetit indicated that there would be "probably something more modest", the rector evoking a possible "representation of the Virgin" in this place where millions of visitors pass each year.

On the spot, some visitors were present by chance for the reopening of the forecourt, but some Parisians had made the trip specially.

"Notre-Dame is our emblem, more than the Eiffel Tower", affirmed Stéphanie Cadillon, librarian, recalling that "it is the zero point of Paris", marking the beginning of the routes leaving the capital. "We wanted to see what had changed ... We find that it has shrunk".

"After these long months locked up at home, seeing her again is a pleasure: she too is confused!" Rejoices Cindy, who made a "little detour" in her walk to come and see her more closely.

"We have seen Notre-Dame from afar for months, it is weird to come back to the forecourt", also testifies Paul Lafuente, young student in the capital from New Caledonia.

He still remembers having followed the building fire "minute by minute": a "stressful" moment.

© 2020 AFP